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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2002)
the bat> ard Gi Opinicn led to a tropical;;. ^ hat damage it, 3ts s uHered, asdt,, ">nc lines cut off J idi of the region."] Jr| t> guard was tt . >f flooding at i)k|| mother person ^ *Kd car crash« ^ city. Isidore ; ts in Guatemala The Battalion Page 5B • Wednesday, September 25, 2002 ating disorders need more publicity egitimate information must combat misinformation from pro-anorexia Web sites i ' V tv ■ill 30 s rn nip >n g .n.. AllUlC.ioni.l I a T :ha > h, LAUREL FRANCK Inorexia lunme#^-- two of the _Bmmon chological )rd|rs among American college students, ]H'e some of the highest fatality rates 3TYmln ^ng all mental illnesses. According to the Eating Disorders Association iDA), both conditions are life-threatening, y T ^ impact men and women of virtually all V C O l H »sifieations. In order to combat the positive publicity iANDHIV se ^' seases are obtaining in the form of >, ^tt K ,, ‘ an( rexia Web sites, a campaign must be thnniL’h US* 11 to,ttl to hattle t,ie misinformation that i Hindu ram P ant throughout the Internet and mg at Jca,. I lege campuses. , n ., f c>irx , The New York Times reports that “because tern India »hr- y ^ not threatening to the passer-by, as is clashes 'chQtic disorders are, or likely to render Hindus kiis ^l 6 ‘'’employable or criminal, as alco- ler this \ear ' sm ant l a clfl'ction are. and perhaps also lours after • ;auSt they are disorders that primarily men remains! Hctfcirls and women, they are not a propor- of the Sc •- natel y imperative social priority.” complex — - An&rexia and bulimia need to be brought to utni>>Nt attention ot colleges and universi- > anti to the forefront of societal issues so tims will have a wider variety of programs J treatments that will help them overcome dr disorder, not maintain it. pers were ® > said. Blocd? icd aw ay on t > wounded!r hes stained ut 45 people * iundreds of mod into the s complex after mod m, scttiM nd the mati Brahmabhar. xilicc chief. . senior police complex, sps ile phone, sc 50 people fit »gc. here were ^ c. and sear'* ting until tht • unition,” if isive, said ( ler official tt ition. eputy Pnme jvani, speai.' ew Delhi, ti ing as a suio the attacker grenades and'- aken up posf of a buildifi lex. >spital officials^ ere dead, inefc )inen and four^ iled included'] irst Yell disappointed some The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa statistics show the onset of illness occurs between the ages of 16 to 20 for 43 percent of all eating disorders. Anorexia and bulimia are not short-term problems. Seventy- seven percent of victims report suffering from their eating disorder for a duration of one to 15 years, and often endure repeated hospital izations and treatments. Despite eating disorders running rampant in American society, “few states in the nation have adequate programs or services to combat anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Only a small number of schools and colleges have pro grams to educate our youth about the dangers of eating disorders,” according to NAAN. Student Counseling Services at Texas A&M offers a support group for those strug gling with eating clisorders, which is a step in the right direction. All college students should be made aware of the symptoms and seriousness of these disorders so these eating disorders can be recognized sooner. Pro-anorexia, or “pro-ana” Web sites are becoming popular places for those suffering from eating disorders to turn to. Pro-ana sites offer warped visions of the disorders and obsess about achieving the goal of being thin. Ellen Davis, clinical director at the Renfrew Center of Philadelphia, a treatment facility, told The Times, “Primarily, the sites reinforce the secretiveness and the ‘specialness’ of the disorder.” On one site investigated by The Times, the “Thin Commandments” state, thou aren’t thin, thou aren’t attractive. Being thin is more important than being healthy. Thou shall not eat without feeling guilty. Thou shall not eat fattening food without punishing thyself afterward. Being thin and not eating are signs of true willpower and success.” The distorted, sometimes militant ideol ogy of these sites is an extreme hindrance, rather than help, to sufferers of eating dis orders. If there were more constructive programs to assist those with eating disor ders in beginning a healthy way of eating and developing a normal body image, these sites wouldn’t be so popular. It is estimated that the visitors to these pro-ana sites number in the thousands, according to The Times. Anorexia and bulimia are two extremely dangerous and deadly psychological disor ders, and it is important that leaders in both education and society realize this and take action to create safe pro-active havens for victims before more lives are claimed by these controlling illnesses. The voices of those who support anorexia despite its terri ble effects must be drowned out with a campaign to educate the public about anorexia and bulimia’s very real dangers. Laurel Franck is a junior English major. jftfton arent uui aren'tjjjjjartive. i |mpori ealthy. fwithou w shall wii yself N m SARAH FOWLER • THE BATTALION Athletic boosters must be kept away from athletes fChris Webber case shows boosters harm athletic programs and the athletes MARK WOOD C hris Webber, the $123 million man of the Sacramento Kings, allegedly took large sums of Bioney from a University of Michigan basketball booster when he played at the university. The booster, Eddie Martin, is a retired Ford Motor Co. employee who was part of a federal indictment in late March in which he admitted to giving large loans to several promising University of Michigan basketball players. According to ESPN.com, Martin has admitted to giving more than $600,000 to former members of the Michigan basketball team, including Robert Traylor of the New Orleans Hornets, Maurice Taylor of the Houston Rockets and Louis Bullock, who is playing profes sionally in Europe. Webber, along with his father and aunt, are facihg charges of misrepresenting their dealings with Martin and lying to a federal grand jury. Webber claims he did not take the money he is accused of accepting, but has said he did take small amounts of money from Martin. Whether Webber took the large amount Martin is claiming he gave him does not matter. Webber has agreed that he did take money from this basketball booster. This is a national issue with a basketball superstar. It can be hoped this incident will shed light on and set precedence for the issue of boosters corning in contact with and giving money and gifts to young collegiate athletes. All too often, highly-recruited star athletes come to big uni versities sure to bring a national championship in their respec tive sport. Suddenly, this immensely touted athlete is driving around campus in a brand new SUV. These things happen because some wealthy booster has no life and is trying to live out the remainder of his life through young, promising and vul nerable athletes. Martin is a rich booster who had more money than he knew what to do with, so he offered promising college athletes lucrative things such as cars and cash. This behavior must be stopped. Coaches, athletic directors and university officials need to take more responsibility in dealing with boosters and monitor ing the relationships the boosters have with the players, if not eliminating these relationships all together. It is very tempting to an 18-year-old freshman that just stepped onto a college campus for the first time to accept thousands of dollars. Although individuals are responsible for their own actions, it is a coach’s responsibility to intervene and make sure students are not put in the situation of deciding whether to take the money. Allowing this to continue will only hurt the athletes in the long run. They will get the wrong idea that everything will come easily to them and should be given to them on a silver platter. They could easily lose the excellent work ethic that got them where they are, ruining their career. In addition, it could get them in trouble with the law. Just ask Webber - he is fac ing a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine. Athletic boosters should stick to giving their money to ath letic programs and let the coaches and athletic directors allo- Mark Wood is a junior journalism major. MAIL CALL Ad van i ^ , h l( j ^ My wife and I attended First Yell at Reed Arena 1 ^ j x is evening in anticipation of a clean and enter- K U said tl*' n ' n 8 program. Instead, we listened to two , t0 ^ttionally-renowned "comedians" use continual a ! r t ,^ 3Vl rOfanity and the last one, Martin Short, make a k , K ' ;I j ry crude joke at the expense of A&M football 1 M sHni M |e ' ac ^ R ' C ' s l° cum - Whether or not you like ,N lls 1 ocum is immaterial. I happen to believe he is a lm ia s olT icent r 1130 - 1 do not in any way blame the u , liversity for these entertainers' display of con- iat the 1 i^iual vulgarity. I heard my God’s name used in 1 2 i fa's' ' n re P ea tedly. I listened to the F word used like hening in ^ dinary slang. The subject matter continually it a big attat j V o^ed arounc j cruc j e situations, intercourse, > n from tn iR kittling the black American culture and general- jeliberate n. f|jppj n g 0 ff un iversity-written contract require- did not i J en t s t | iat suc [ n su bj ec t matter and behavior be th 3 * 1 y oided. I could go on and on about the bawdy n, sponsor^ Savior of these two "entertainers." in I' 11 ' 11 The sleazy comments about Slocum were the 3ad denies i s t s t raw \j\]q | e ft at that point and noticed that le no gr° u P' , vera | ot ber people had also had enough, includ- j responsi 1 ■ g 0ur fj ne s t u dent body president and his love- and governing date reful notto" 1 yv|at | ^uid to note on the positive side is ears sprea a t jour s t u dent yell leaders, singers, dancers, jarat staff j; ummers and comedians were worth the price would N admission. The talent they showed was of the ould set ot 1 ghest caliber. My hat is off to all of you for the olence and ^ jvidus preparation it took to do what you did. ead sectarian' )u mac j e us p roud tonight. I hope the audience s is adding ker J/erjtually left Short a bit shorter by leaving him fire. There w 'y himself. It reflects the kind of students we have ie riot-pr° lH j! sre a t Texas A&M, especially when I consider the esai, a colW^mber 0 f d j S gusted students we saw leaving ibad, 3 b 0111 >ortly after the marquee act began. • attack site. >ps are .[ Mike Caudle e is telling fJB Class of 1969 in, go h 0I1 f p ipen now. At First Yell 1 was ashamed of a large part of the i reports or 1 jdience. When Martin Short began his act many t. I Jdience members began leaving. This continued ity w 35 er| d of the show, and was completely and severa 0 mbarrassing |. 0 those of us who had the good >e popul 3tl0f 'lanners to stay. jnd Muslin 15 ’ Texas A&M is known for being a friendly and offici*" r calm. hospitable place. However, leaving before a pro gram is over is not showing hospitality. It only shows ugliness, and there is no other word for it. If students can stand through an entire football game even when our team is losing, they can cer tainly be polite and sit through a performer's act even if they don't like it. As Aggies we need to be aware that our actions, whether we like it or not, reflect on Texas A&M. I for one want to keep the tradition of being friend ly and hospitable. Libby Hat!a Class of 2005 A&M offense must improve If timing is everything, the A&M coaching staff is master of it. There's nothing like boosting Reggie McNeal's confidence by starting him out in the Aggie end zone. I'm certain the Virginia Tech defensive line planned to take it easy on Reggie in his debut Saturday. The future of Texas A&M football rests on the blade of a double-edged sword. First, McNeil must be mentored and molded as a passing and option quarterback. Neither of these is going to happen in College Station as long as Slocum is at the helm. Which brings us to the other side of the sword. Slocum is a defensive specialist and that is the only role he should be fulfilling. A true head foot ball coach would recognize his weaknesses and defer on them rather than leave the team to be exploited by them. Slocum has run off more than one offensive lieutenant and, if allowed to, will run off the first true trump card A&M has had since John David Crow. If McNeil scores at A&M it will be in spite of the offensive play-calling, not because of it. Shanna Osburn Class of 2005 I would like to congratulate the defense on its spectacular play. It is truly a joy to watch them play so hard with so much enthusiasm and heart. I don't know what is more disheartening, the way such a marvelous defense effort was squan dered or the fact that a school like Texas A&M, with all its resources, can continue to produce such an offensive offense. If it were simply one game, most fans would chalk it up to a few dropped balls, or inexperienced QB play, or even give Virginia Tech credit for a wonderful defense (which was certainly part of it). However, it's not just one game, it's both this and last season and what feels like the last decade. I could go into all the statistics, but we all know how bad they are. What we all don't agree on is the problem and more importantly, the solution. The vast majori ty of us are not directly involved with the foot ball program, so the best we can do is guess what the problem is. However, there are numerous players, coaches and administrators who do know what the prob lem is and I beg them to fix it. Do what ever has to be done to right the ship before the 12th Man and Kyle Field lose their aura. It took years build the records and mystique of Kyle Field. It will only take a season or two of this offense to destroy it. Brent Lium Class of 1992 I don't know how everyone else feels, but Aggieland is my home and I don't appreciate visi tors coming into my home and destroying it. After the prayer in the middle of the field, the Virginia Tech players gathered at the south end zone and proceeded to rip up chunks of Kyle Field. All the fans in the bleachers, including myself, were yelling and trying to get the attention of the "guards" that "protect" Kyle Field. They turned around saw what was happening and did nothing. Maybe someone has an idea of what can be done to prevent someone else from doing the same thing. Kacy McCuistion Class of 2005 <5? fioreXfiYi
